Category: Calendar of Events
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2026 ESCONI Rock, Mineral and Fossil Swap and Sale – August 15, 2026 at College of DuPage
ESCONI is sponsoring a rock swap and sale event on August 15, 2026 at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. The location is Parking Lot 4, south of the Health and Science Building, and adjacent to the prairie.
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Video for ESCONI June 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting – “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.”
The ESCONI June 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting was held on Saturday, June 20th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom. Lincoln Shoemaker presented “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.” Lincoln Shoemaker is currently a master’s student at the University of Cincinnati where he is involved in multiple projects regarding the Late…
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ESCONI at the Coal City Library!
On June 4, ESCONI was at the Coal City Library to kick off summer with exhibits of fossils, geodes, and our popular dig box. Jody Gosain and Jim Bigler presented to over 150 people including 100 children. Interestingly, the library itself has three beautiful collection of Mazon Creek fossils donated by locals over the years.…
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ESCONI June 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting, Saturday, June 20th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom – “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.”
The ESCONI June 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting will be held on Saturday, June 20th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom. Lincoln Shoemaker will present “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.” Lincoln Shoemaker is currently a master’s student at the University of Cincinnati where he is involved in multiple projects regarding…
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ESCONI June 2026 General Meeting, Friday, June 12th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “At the Intersection of Art and Science: Outreach in Natural History Museums”
The ESCONI June 2026 General Meeting will be held via Zoom at 8:00 PM on Friday, June 12th, 2026. Adrienne Stroup, Geological Collections, Vertebrate Paleontological Loan Manager, PaleoArtist/Scientific Illustrator from The Field Museum will be presenting “At the Intersection of Art and Science: Outreach in Natural History Museums.” Adrienne will talk about the vertebrate paleontological…
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Sundays on the Boulevard
ESCONI’s mission is to promote interest in the Earth sciences, both through programs and publications aimed at ESCONI members and through events aimed at the larger community, like the ESCONI and CGMA shows. Recently, thanks to the efforts of ESCONI volunteers like Jim Bigler and Jodi Gosain [and others?], we’ve expanded ESCONI’s outreach efforts by…
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Reminder: 49th Annual CGMA Show – May 23rd and 24th, 2026
The 49th Annual CGMA Show will be held May 23rd and 24th, 2026 at the Expo Center of the Kane County Fairgrounds.
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ESCONI May 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting Saturday, May 16th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom – “An Ordovician Konzentrat Lagerstätte: The Dixon Mifflin Residuum Fauna”
John will begin the program by introducing what a Konzentrat-Lagerstätten consists of and a brief introduction of the Platteville Formation. The depositional environment of the Mohawkian Sea, home of the Platteville fauna sets the stage for the faunal comparison.
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ESCONI May 2026 General Meeting Friday, May 8th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “Seeing Beneath the Ground: Geophysics and Archaeological Explorations in Illinois”
The ESCONI General Meeting for May 2026 will be held on May 8th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom. Thomas Loebel from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey will present “Seeing Beneath the Ground: Geophysics and Archaeological Explorations in Illinois”. Thomas will explain how archaeologists find sites, specifically how they use geophysics or remote sensing to…
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Reminder: MAPS Expo XLVII – April 24-26, 2026 in Springfield, IL
The Mid-America Paleontology Society (MAPS) 2026 Expo XLVII is being held from April 24th to 26th, 2026 at the Joe Orr Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois. The topic for the show is “Fossil Preparation and Archiving”.
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ESCONI April 2026 Paleontology Meeting via Zoom and in-person – “Digging the Marl of the Lance Formation”
The April 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting will feature Keith Robitschek and his presentation “Digging the Marl of the Lance Formation”. You can attend in-person at the College of DuPage, TEC, Room 1038B (Map). The meeting will also be available via Zoom.
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49th Annual CGMA Show – May 23rd and 24th, 2026
The 49th Annual CGMA Show will be held May 23rd and 24th, 2026 at the Expo Center of the Kane County Fairgrounds.
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ESCONI April 2026 General Meeting via Zoom – “Life in the Devonian Period, The Age of Fishes”
The April 2026 General Meeting will be held on April 10th, 2026 at 8:00 via Zoom. At the meeting, Jessica Hull will present “Life in the Devonian Period, The Age of Fishes.” The Devonian Period was a crucial moment in the history of life. In this presentation, Jessica Hull will bring fossils to life by…
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ESCONI Field Trip to Danville Shale Pile Fossils – Saturday, May 2nd, 2026
An ESCONI field trip to the Danville IL Shale Pile for Pennsylvanian fossils is scheduled for Saturday May 2nd, 2026 starting at 10 AM. This is on private property and there is an attendance limit of 25 people. The gate will be secured once we are in and locked when we leave. Plan on being…
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Recap – Photos from the Show
Here is an assortment of the friendly, smiling people from the show! Thanks to the volunteers, thanks to the vendors, thanks to the ESCONI members , thanks to everyone that came out. There’s lots of familiar faces in these. It was great seeing old and meeting new friends… we hope everyone had a good time!
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MAPS Expo XLVII – April 24-26, 2026 in Springfield, IL
The Mid-America Paleontology Society (MAPS) 2026 Expo XLVII is being held from April 24th to 26th, 2026 at the Joe Orr Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois. The topic for the show is “Fossil Preparation and Archiving”.
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Recap – Displays and Demonstrators
Well, that sure went by fast! We put in quite a bit of work to get ready and then it was over in a flash. The results and photos are still coming in, so we’ll do the recap in a few posts. We hope you made it out and had a great time. Please, send…
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Scenes from Day 1 of the 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
We had a great day today at the 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show. Hopefully, you were able to join us. We had more attendees at day 1 than we had for both days last year! There were great friends and great times… it’s always fun to catch up with everyone! There were great…
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Today is the Day! ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show!
Here are some scenes from the show setup… just 2 hours to showtime!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #40: Mazon Creek Asterophyllites and a Sphenopterid in a Riker Mount
Last preview… a Riker Mount with a Mazon Creek Asterophyllites and a Sphenopterid… both are beautiful fossils. Today is the day… come out at 10 AM and see all the auction items for yourself!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #39: Fluorite and Sphalerite
One last chunk of beautiful fluorite… nice purple crystals on a bed of sphalerite. Sounds and looks tasty! If you are up this late (or is that early), you deserve a tasty preview… just a few hours until the show starts!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #38: Reticulopteris munsterii var. dawsonii from Mazon Creek
How about another Mazon Creek seed fern? This one is Neuropteris jacksonii (see Mazon Monday #250). If you are reading this… today is the day!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #37: Alethopteris serlii from St. Clair, Pennsylvania
This preview is of a chunk of shale from St. Clair, PA. This piece contains numerous examples of Alethopteris serlii, a seed fern also found in Mazon Creek localities. We are getting very close now… inside 12 hours away!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #36: Purple Fluorite from Cave-in-Rock, IL
Here’s yet another beautiful chunk of fluorite from Illinois. This one is purple and was collected from Cave-in-Rock, IL. many years ago. Come and see it tomorrow… less than a day away!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #35: Priscacara, sp. from the Green River Formation in Wyoming
What fossil show is complete without a Green River fish? Here is a nice Priscacara, sp. These fish date to the Eocene, about 50 million years ago. We have other Green River fish, come on out and see them!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #34: Giant Moroccan Trilobite
How about a giant Moroccan trilobite for something different? Come on out… we will have other trilobites at the show.
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #33: Laveineopteris rarinervis from Mazon Creek
This is a beautiful specimen of Laveineopteris rarinervis (see Mazon Monday #81) a seed fern commonly found in the Mazon Creek fossil deposit. Come on out and check it out tomorrow!
